Don't get so worked out , Chandra: "Oh lord ..haven't had food whole day due to tension..heart is racing like a F1 car..hope india wins today ..else all other matches in this group become dead rubbers."

Ayan: "You mean Mis-bah-5 runs Ul Haq?" Of course I do.

Just got a mail from a reader who wants MSD, Gambhir, Zaheer, Ashwin, Yuvraj and Sehwag axed!

Zaheer "Tendulkar" Khan to bowl the first over. Hafeez to face the first ball. Fairly big crowd in for the game, and they are making quite the racket.

7.10pm Anjana says Pakistan shouldn't have packed in the spinners: "I think Hafeez made a mistake not picking Tanvir. SA might have struggled against spin but I think Tanvir might have made the Indians' life more difficult than the spinners."

Aditya says it is impossible to predict Dhoni's moves: "Haha. So many speculations before the match. Doubt that anybody was thinking that Balaji would come in. Dhoni surprises people every time."

Daniel Alexander notes a change in the ICC T20I rankings: "Sri Lanka are the new number one T20 team.. Proud moment for all Sri Lankans :)" South Africa down to 2, after their loss to Australia, who have convincing shown they are not the No. 9 side in the world any more.

Hasan: "Seven out of this playing 11 (for pakistan) , will remember the events that took place in that wt20 final. and mark my words., pakistan have waited a good 5 years for revenge." Only Mohammad Asif, Younis Khan, Sohail Tanvir and Misbah 'scoop' ul Haq missing from the XI that played the 2007 final.

Tushar Sem: "@Sid : Balaji had good IPL 2012 and then Pakistanis a re good players of spin. Hence, a pretty straight choice over Bhajji."

The diligent Mazher Arshad has dug this up: "Mohammad Hafeez is playing his 100th consecutive international match, he has not missed a single Pakistan match since his comeback in 2010."

MS Dhoni: "We were thinking to bowl first, we are playing seven batsmen today." Changes: Harbhajan and Chawla out, Sehwag and Balaji in. "Pakistan are good players of spin," Dhoni says, justifying leaving out two spinners and bringing in a batsman and a quick bowler.

Back to India's preferred strategy then, pack the batting, and use the part-timers to fill in the fifth bowler's spot. Sourav Ganguly: "I am not too surprised (to see Harbhajan missing. After what happened against Australia, I felt he would want the cushion of seven batsmen."

The selection of Balaji (and his description as a quick bowler) has not gone done well with several readers. Sid: "Selection of Balaji makes no sense.. I dont say Harbhajan is a better bowler after just 1 good performance against England, but under all circumstances he is better than Balaji."

6.40pm Greetings, it's India v Pakistan time. Pakistan are looking unusually settled while India aren't sure of their combination either with the new ball or at the top of the order. If Pakistan finally win their first match against India in either the T20 or the one-day World Cups, they will have the satisfaction of also eliminating India while confirming qualification for the semi-final. That result will also put Australia in the final four, knocking out South Africa.

After India thumped England earlier in the week, there was suddenly a problem of plenty as MS Dhoni suddenly seemed to have a lot of bowling options. After the demolition by Australia, Dhoni has plenty to ponder, as Sidharth Monga says in his match preview. Will Sehwag be picked? What about Yuvraj? Three spinners, or two? Irfan opening?

If you missed the first game of the day, and yet another commanding performance from Watson, check our match report.

Does anyone need reminding what happened the last time these two teams played in the World Twenty20? That win launched MS Dhoni further towards superstardom, but now questions are being raised not only about his captaincy but also his place in the side - a career strike-rate of 109 isn't something you'd expect from an explosive batsman like MSD.

0.1

Khan to Mohammad Hafeez,
1 wide,
Zaheer starts with a wide delivery outside off, a hint of swing away after pitching well outside off

0.1

Khan to Mohammad Hafeez,
no run,
length ball outside off, crunched towards cover point where a diving Yuvraj stops it from racing away

Irfan warming up, so he'll probably get to share the new ball

0.2

Khan to Mohammad Hafeez,
1 run,
length ball is guided down towards third man for a single

0.3

Khan to Imran Nazir,
FOUR,
no one is stopping this one, short of length and a bit of width, Nazir gets on the back foot and slashes that past backward point for four, Nazir gets a boundary off his first ball

0.4

Khan to Imran Nazir,
5 wides,
oh dear, that swings down the leg side, Dhoni was slow to get to that one, he doesn't collect it and gives away four extra runs

0.4

Khan to Imran Nazir,
no run,
that seams away outside off, Nazir doesn't move his feet as he is sucked into playing at that, beaten

0.5

Khan to Imran Nazir,
no run,
closer to the off stump this time, Nazir defends off the back foot to the off side

0.6

Khan to Imran Nazir,
2 wides,
the third wide of the over, down the leg side once more, Dhoni gets his gloves on it this time, the ball rolls towards short fine

0.6

Khan to Mohammad Hafeez,
no run,
dropped, chance for Sehwag at slip, Zaheer finally gets his line right, just as people were being reminded of his infamous opening over in the 2003 World Cup final, batsman was playing across the line, gets the outside edge, went at a catchable height but well to the right of Sehwag, who gets his hands on it after diving but can't latch on, gets a second chance as he falls to the ground but he turfs it

End of over 1 (13 runs)
Pakistan 13/0
(RR: 13.00)

Mohammad Hafeez1 (3b)

Imran Nazir4 (3b 1x4)

Z Khan1-0-13-0

1.1

Pathan to Imran Nazir,
FOUR,
superb start for Irfan, an inside-edge for four, Nazir is relieved to see the ball has missed the stumps

1.2

Pathan to Imran Nazir,
OUT,
he's gone this time, lbw, Nazir was miles down the track but the umpire is happy that was going on to hit the stumps, that was short of a length and pitching on middle, and replays show that straightened enough to hit the top of middle, Nazir was unhappy with the decision as he walked off

Imran Nazir lbw b Pathan 8 (8m 5b 2x4 0x6) SR: 160.00

1.3

Pathan to Shahid Afridi,
FOUR,
surprise! Afridi in at No. 3, boom! first ball is blasted past mid-on for a boundary

1.4

Pathan to Shahid Afridi,
no run,
short and wide from Irfan, Afridi throws his bat at it but missed

Pathan to Shahid Afridi,
no run,
a slower ball from Irfan, and a sight you don't see often when Afridi is on strike, he allows it through to the keeper

1.6

Pathan to Shahid Afridi,
FOUR,
short and a bit of width, Afidi muscles it into the ground, bounces over the off-side field, Raina gave chase as the ball raced towards the sweeper cover boundary, the ball beats him to the rope

End of over 2 (13 runs)
Pakistan 26/1
(RR: 13.00)

Shahid Afridi8 (4b 2x4)

Mohammad Hafeez1 (3b)

IK Pathan1-0-13-1

Z Khan1-0-13-0

2.1

Khan to Mohammad Hafeez,
no run,
length ball on middle and leg, played towards midwicket

Khan to Mohammad Hafeez,
no run,
back of a length and moving in towards the off stump, played off the back foot towards backward point

2.4

Khan to Mohammad Hafeez,
no run,
good line from Zaheer, heading for off stump that one, blocked towards extra cover, Hafeez is now 1 off 7, and has been put down once already

2.5

Khan to Mohammad Hafeez,
1 run,
length ball outside off, Hafeez guides it down to third man for a single, five balls and one run this over from Zaheer, who has pulled it back after that forgettable first over

2.6

Khan to Shahid Afridi,
1 run,
Afridi is not going to hang around here, a shortish ball is mowed towards square leg, Afridi really looking to massacre the ball there

End of over 3 (2 runs)
Pakistan 28/1
(RR: 9.33)

Shahid Afridi9 (5b 2x4)

Mohammad Hafeez2 (8b)

Z Khan2-0-15-0

IK Pathan1-0-13-1

3.1

Pathan to Shahid Afridi,
no run,
a slightly slower one from Irfan,short of a length delivery that moves in a hint, Afridi swings at it and misses

3.2

Pathan to Shahid Afridi,
no run,
pitched up and well outside off, Afridi is drawn towards that one, another swing and a miss, Irfan has third man in the ring, long-on is back

No fine leg or short fine leg either.

3.3

Pathan to Shahid Afridi,
1 run,
punched down to long-on for a single

3.4

Pathan to Mohammad Hafeez,
1 run,
calmly guided down to this third single down to third man

3.5

Pathan to Shahid Afridi,
2 runs,
pitched up and that is thrashed towards long-on, Yuvraj is there, he does the fielding

3.6

Pathan to Shahid Afridi,
1 run,
length ball on the stumps, slammed towards extra cover, misfield by Balaji, who might have got a bit of a bad bounce there

Note to Farhan's employees in Qatar: "If Afridi stays at the crease till the 10th over, I will give one day off to my sub-ordinates. I hope he doesn't get out by the time I am writing this comment."

End of over 4 (5 runs)
Pakistan 33/1
(RR: 8.25)

Shahid Afridi13 (10b 2x4)

Mohammad Hafeez3 (9b)

IK Pathan2-0-18-1

Z Khan2-0-15-0

Balaji takes over from Zak

4.1

Balaji to Shahid Afridi,
1 run,
slower offcutter bouncer from wide of the crease, Afridi looks to swipe and edges it to the leg side, can't time it

Balaji to Mohammad Hafeez,
1 run,
another short one, Hafeez swivels as he pulls the ball along the ground towards deep square leg

4.4

Balaji to Shahid Afridi,
OUT,
the Afridi experiment is over, he has picked out the deep square leg fielder, another short one from Balaji, Afridi pulls and connects well this done, not well enough to clear the rope though, Raina gets under that one and safely pouches it

Ashwin to Nasir Jamshed,
1 run,
inside-edge towards midwicket as Jamshed looks to push it from the off stump

5.2

Ashwin to Mohammad Hafeez,
no run,
from round the wicket, short of length ball on middle and leg, tapped to the leg side

5.3

Ashwin to Mohammad Hafeez,
2 runs,
worked towards wide mid-on for what should have been a single, a misfield there from Raina, allows the second, it could have been a tight one as well, Yuvraj was going to throw the ball to the keeper, then realises he should fire it in towards the non-striker's end, that gives Jamshed time to get back

5.4

Ashwin to Mohammad Hafeez,
1 run,
nudged behind square leg

5.5

Ashwin to Nasir Jamshed,
no run,
solidly defended off the front foot

5.6

Ashwin to Nasir Jamshed,
2 runs,
length ball is scooped over cover by Jamshed, is in the air for ages but lands well wide of any of the fielders

Yuvraj Singh to Mohammad Hafeez,
1 run,
a touch short from Yuvraj, it spins in towards Hafeez, who gets on the back foot and whacks it towards midwicket

From round the wicket

6.4

Yuvraj Singh to Nasir Jamshed,
OUT,
the magic of Yuvraj works again! a wicket in his first over, and it is the important one of Nasir Jamshed, who was looking to heave the ball from outside off to the leg side, he edges it through to Dhoni who is absolutely convinced there is bat involved, the umpire agrees and Pakistan are three down

Nasir Jamshed c †Dhoni b Yuvraj Singh 4 (9m 5b 0x4 0x6) SR: 80.00

Replays show there was definitely a bottom edge as Jamshed swiped at it.

Kamran Akmal is in now, he revived Pakistan in the warm-up game

6.5

Yuvraj Singh to Kamran Akmal,
1 run,
played it off the back foot towards sweeper cover

6.6

Yuvraj Singh to Mohammad Hafeez,
no run,
length ball is pushed towards extra cover, and just two off the over

End of over 7 (2 runs)
Pakistan 44/3
(RR: 6.28)

Mohammad Hafeez8 (19b)

Kamran Akmal1 (1b)

Yuvraj Singh1-0-2-1

R Ashwin1-0-6-0

Kohli to bowl now, Dhoni looking to use up his part-timers quota early

7.1

Kohli to Kamran Akmal,
1 run,
just outside off, worked towards short third man

Kohli to Kamran Akmal,
1 run,
gets well back in the crease and punches that towards mid-on, only three off the over, a good phase this for India

End of over 8 (3 runs)
Pakistan 47/3
(RR: 5.87)

Kamran Akmal3 (4b)

Mohammad Hafeez9 (22b)

V Kohli1-0-3-0

Yuvraj Singh1-0-2-1

8.1

Yuvraj Singh to Kamran Akmal,
2 runs,
two runs to sweeper cover

8.2

Yuvraj Singh to Kamran Akmal,
OUT,
another one for Yuvraj! Kamran Akmal is gone this time, that was pitched up by Yuvraj, just outside off, Kamran looks to hammer it through cover, a thin edge through to Dhoni, who throws up the ball in celebration even before appealing

Yuvraj Singh to Mohammad Hafeez,
2 runs,
length ball heading for middle for leg, worked towards deep square leg, Kohli rifles in the throw as Pakistan attempt a tight second, Dhoni looks to break the stumps without looking at them, he doesn't collect it properly though, would have been close that

8.6

Yuvraj Singh to Mohammad Hafeez,
FOUR,
bang! Hafeez stops pottering around, gets his first boundary with the innings almost halfway through, that is hammered towards midwicket, one bounce and over the ropes

End of over 9 (9 runs)
Pakistan 56/4
(RR: 6.22)

Mohammad Hafeez15 (25b 1x4)

Shoaib Malik1 (1b)

Yuvraj Singh2-0-11-2

V Kohli1-0-3-0

Fourth over for a part-timer

9.1

Kohli to Shoaib Malik,
1 run,
a single to start Kohli's over

9.2

Kohli to Mohammad Hafeez,
no run,
a full toss just outside off, squeezed towards backward point

9.3

Kohli to Mohammad Hafeez,
1 leg bye,
full ball slanting down leg, the batsman had shuffled past the leg stump, and that thuds into his pads

9.4

Kohli to Shoaib Malik,
1 run,
length ball is thumped towards wide long-on, it was in the air for a while but it was a controlled hit

9.5

Kohli to Mohammad Hafeez,
OUT,
Pakistan imploding here, Hafeez has played on here, and Kohli has struck with an innocuous delivery that takes out the leg stump, Hafeez had made room and wanted to steer that ball from beyond the leg stump to the off side, edged into the ground and then onto the stumps, Pakistan will need runs from the two Umars again

Kohli to Shoaib Malik,
FOUR,
shorter and outside off, Malik waits for that on the back foot, cleverly places it past the short third man fielder, Balaji dives but can't stop it, another boundary for Malik

Pathan to Umar Akmal,
SIX,
smash! Umar Akmal clubs that short of length ball that sat up, Umar gets on the front foot and dismisses that over the midwicket boundary

12.5

Pathan to Umar Akmal,
1 run,
length ball well outside off, guided down to third man for a single

12.6

Pathan to Shoaib Malik,
no run,
what's going on here? length ball just outside off, Malik gets outside off and looks to work the ball to the leg side, struck on the pads and the ball rolls towards square leg, Irfan part appeal for an lbw before chasing after the ball, both batsmen take several steps down the track before stopping, have a conversation mid-pitch as Irfan scampers to field that one

End of over 13 (12 runs)
Pakistan 92/5
(RR: 7.07)

Shoaib Malik18 (12b 2x4)

Umar Akmal17 (11b 1x6)

IK Pathan3-0-30-1

V Kohli3-0-21-1

13.1

Ashwin to Umar Akmal,
1 wide,
wide down the leg side

13.1

Ashwin to Umar Akmal,
no run,
defended towards short cover

13.2

Ashwin to Umar Akmal,
1 run,
carrom ball pitching outside leg, Akmal waits on the back foot and helps it behind square leg for a single

13.3

Ashwin to Shoaib Malik,
no run,
length ball is pushed back to Ashwin

Part-timers: 6 overs, 37 for 3. Specialists: 7 overs, 55 for 2

13.4

Ashwin to Shoaib Malik,
no run,
a good over this from Ashwin, Malik defends to the leg side

13.5

Ashwin to Shoaib Malik,
2 runs,
a bit short and outside off, Malik is terrific on the cut, sends the ball towards deep point

13.6

Ashwin to Shoaib Malik,
1 run,
length ball on the pads, Malik comes down the track and guides the ball towards long-on, good over that from Ashwin

Balaji to Shoaib Malik,
no run,
slower bouncer from Balaji, one bounce towards Yuvraj at backward point

14.5

Balaji to Shoaib Malik,
FOUR,
length ball this time, slants it towards the pads, glanced down to the vacant fine leg region, Zaheer at backward square leg was too square to cut that off, and not for the first time, Malik playing a good hand against India

14.6

Balaji to Shoaib Malik,
no run,
length ball is punched towards cover, dot ball to end the over

End of over 15 (8 runs)
Pakistan 105/5
(RR: 7.00)

Shoaib Malik28 (21b 3x4)

Umar Akmal19 (14b 1x6)

L Balaji2-0-11-1

R Ashwin2-0-11-0

Ashwin bowling his third over

15.1

Ashwin to Umar Akmal,
1 run,
pushed towards mid-on for a single

15.2

Ashwin to Shoaib Malik,
OUT,
the end of Malik, and not the best of strokes from him to end a fluent innings, a length ball from round the wicket, Malik swipes at it, only as far as midwicket, who takes the catch chest high,that was off the toe end of the bat, just as Pakistan seemed to be getting some momentum, they lose another wicket

Shoaib Malik c Sharma b Ashwin 28 (29m 22b 3x4 0x6) SR: 127.27

15.3

Ashwin to Yasir Arafat,
1 run,
length ball from over the stumps, a quicker one going straight on, played towards cover

15.4

Ashwin to Umar Akmal,
1 run,
pushed towards long-off for a single

15.5

Ashwin to Yasir Arafat,
no run,
pitched up, on middle and leg, worked in front of square leg

15.6

Ashwin to Yasir Arafat,
1 run,
length ball outside off, guided towards deep backward point, 'two, two,' is the initial call but the batsmen realise there isn't a second, just four off that Ashwin over

Balaji to Yasir Arafat,
no run,
back of a length ball outside off, bottom-edged to the off side

16.3

Balaji to Yasir Arafat,
no run,
shorter this time from Balaji, slapped towards Yuvraj at backward point

16.4

Balaji to Yasir Arafat,
no run,
the slower bouncer has Arafat baffled, the ball takes an age to arrive and Arafat can only weakly waft at it

Umar Akmal gives some advice to Arafat

16.5

Balaji to Yasir Arafat,
FOUR,
if it was to give Umar the strike, Arafat hasn't heeded it, he goes for a wild swipe to midwicket, top-edges it and that bounces once before going over the third man rope

16.6

Balaji to Yasir Arafat,
1 run,
swings at it once more, towards deep midwicket, Kohli keeps them down to a single, which means Arafat remains on strike, only five off that over

End of over 17 (5 runs)
Pakistan 114/6
(RR: 6.70)

Yasir Arafat7 (9b 1x4)

Umar Akmal21 (16b 1x6)

L Balaji3-0-16-1

R Ashwin3-0-15-1

Ashwin's final over

17.1

Ashwin to Yasir Arafat,
1 run,
Arafat does well to turn over the strike to Umar, works the ball to mid-on for a single

17.2

Ashwin to Umar Akmal,
no run,
a carrom ball pitching outside leg, edges it to the off side

17.3

Ashwin to Umar Akmal,
OUT,
another one down, a touch short from Ashwin, Umar Akmal shaped up for a big mow, it seemed like the right ball to dispatch, he doesn't get enough on it though and Raina collects it and looks to the crowd, cupping his ear to suggest he can't hear them, a frustrated Umar bangs his bat on the track

Umar Akmal c Raina b Ashwin 21 (31m 18b 0x4 1x6) SR: 116.66

17.4

Ashwin to Umar Gul,
no run,
defends his first ball to short midwicket

Ash Habib: "Funny how batting in this same pitch seemed like a breeze when Watson and Hussey were in the middle." That Akmal mow was exactly like Watson's, just didn't have the same power

Khan to Yasir Arafat,
OUT,
short of length bowled wide of the crease, slapped towards Yuvraj at backward point, and that throw from Yuvraj is bang-on perfect, one bounce and hitting the top of middle, Zaheer was in position to collect the throw, he realised that was heading for the stumps and gets his hands out of the way, Arafat is an inch short, he is on his way, Yuvraj answering his critics here

Yasir Arafat run out 8 (12m 11b 1x4 0x6) SR: 72.72

18.2

Khan to Umar Gul,
FOUR,
shortish ball, Gul swings at it and gets a bottom-edge, that runs down towards fine leg, Balaji races across and puts in the dive to stop that one, but he pushes it back onto his chest as he slides and the ball deflects over the rope, great effort there but to no avail

18.3

Khan to Umar Gul,
1 run,
a yorker from Zaheer, squeezed out towards cover for a single

Khan to Umar Gul,
no run,
a low full toss from over the wickets, thumped back towards Zaheer, who does well to stop that

18.6

Khan to Umar Gul,
1 run,
full and wide outside off, dug out towards midwicket for a single

End of over 19 (7 runs)
Pakistan 122/8
(RR: 6.42)

Umar Gul6 (7b 1x4)

Saeed Ajmal1 (1b)

Z Khan3-0-22-0

R Ashwin4-0-16-2

19.1

Balaji to Umar Gul,
no run,
swing and a miss, that was well outside off but the batsman wanted to still club that to the leg side

Last 25 balls only 17 runs

19.2

Balaji to Umar Gul,
SIX,
a poor delivery from Balaji, a full toss on the pads, Gul can hit those all day, swung over deep square leg for six

19.3

Balaji to Umar Gul,
OUT,
a high full toss from around the stumps this time, Gul could have smashed that where he liked, instead he gets an edge on it and the ball swirls to Dhoni, can Pakistan at least last the full 20 overs?

Umar Gul c †Dhoni b Balaji 12 (10m 10b 1x4 1x6) SR: 120.00

19.4

Balaji to Saeed Ajmal,
OUT,
no, they can't! Pakistan are bowled out for 128, Ajmal looks to paddle his first delivery to fine leg, he doesn't quite get hold of it and Dhoni has another simple catch

Saeed Ajmal c †Dhoni b Balaji 1 (6m 2b 0x4 0x6) SR: 50.00

Not a batting effort to be proud of from Pakistan. 128 seems an insufficient total, unless their spinners pull off some magic. Yuvraj once again delivered with the ball, Pakistan played out too many dot balls - not helped by the struggles of Hafeez at the top - and India's other bowlers turned in an improved effort to keep Pakistan to the lowest total of the Super Eights.

R Ashwin:"We stuck to our guns, we read the wicket quite well. It is a dicey score from Pakistan. I though Virat and Yuvraj bowled beautifully. We are happy we have got them down to 130. There is enough in the wicket for the spinners, it is sticking on to the wicket. The Pakistan fans are outnumbering ours, but it is a fantastic atmosphere."

Cris sums it up: "There weren't any demons in this wicket and the Indian bowling was far from threatening but Pakistani batsmen couldn't handle pressure..still back their bowlers to at least give India a scare."